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Minor Fictional Characters in The Tale of Krispos
This article lists the various minor fictional characters who appear in The Tale of Krispos of the Videssos Series. These characters play, at best, a peripheral role in the series. While they were usually given a name, some weren't. Most were simply mentioned or had a very brief, unimportant speaking role that did not impact the plot, and never appeared again. Agrabast (KR) Agrabast was a groom in Iakovitzes' stables. He bet a gold piece against Barses that Krispos would sleep with the boss, and paid up swiftly when he lost.The Tale of Krispos, p. 86. Balbad (KR) Balbad Badbal's son was a Khatrisher Khagan who drove the Videssians across the Mnizou River. At least three generations later, this fact was used by Lexo in his argument for keeping Khatrish's borders stretched to the same river.Ibid., p. 96-97. Barses (KR) Barses was a groom in Iakovitzes' stables. He and Meletios engaged in fisticuffs with newcomer Krispos, but soon learned to coexist. Krispos' holding his own against the two won him the acceptance of the others. Beshev (KR) Beshev was a wrestler from Kubrat who accompanied Ambassador Gleb to Videssos the city. Boasting of many past victories, including the defeat and slaying of a Videssian named Stylianos, Beshev challenged any Videssian to a match. The horse-groomer Krispos accepted, and was able to hold his own against the champion. Krispos soon deduced that Gleb was aiding Beshev magically, and eliminated this problem in a clever way. Eventually he wore Beshev down and knocked him into unconsciousness. Victorious, Krispos refused the gold which spectators threw at him, stating that he fought for Videssos, not for personal glory.Ibid., p. 154-160. Brison (KR) Brison was a Khatrisher wool-merchant who encountered Iakovitzes' party at the city gates of Opsikion. Iakovitzes considered Brison too dull to know when he'd been insulted.Ibid., 92-93. Evtykhes (KR) Evtykhes was the cook at Tanilis' estate. Gelasios (KR) Gelasios was a healer-priest of Phos who treated Phostis' wound from a Kubrati raid.Ibid., p. 49-51. Gleb (KR) Gleb was a Kubrati ambassador to Videssos during the reign of Avtokrator Anthimos III. He brought Beshev the wrestler to challenge any Videssian to a match at a formal gathering in Videssos the city. Krispos, the servant who answered the challenge, deduced (by watching the ambassador's hand movements) that Gleb was a mage who was giving Beshev an unfair supernatural advantage, a problem which he solved by "accidentally" kicking sand into Gleb's face so that he could not concentrate on this. Sevastokrator Petronas, when Krispos told him of this, recalled that Gleb often made the same hand movements during their diplomatic dickerings, attempting to gain a diplomatic advantage that way.Ibid., p. 154-161. Gomaris (KR) Gomaris was the chief steward of Iakovitzes' household. Gumush of Khatrish (KR) Gumush was a Khagan of Khatrish whose reign coincided with that of Anthimos III, Avtokrator of Videssos. Gumush sent his emissary Lexo to a meeting in Opsikion, to negotiate with the Videssian diplomat Iakovitzes and determine the correct border between their respective nations. Wherever the border was, Gumush consistently had his agents smuggle amber across it. He was later succeeded by his son Nobad. Idalkos (KR) Idalkos was the Videssian soldier who was Krispos' first fighting instructor after his ransom from Kubrati captivity. He led the farmers' militia against a subsequent Kubrati raid.Krispos Rising, chapter II. Ivera (KR) Ivera was the wife of Roukhas. Phostis' wife Tatze, despite their husbands' rivalry, traded recipes with Ivera.TToK, p. 15. Likinia (KR) Likinia was Krispos' second girlfriend, on his rebound from Zoranne.Ibid., p. 40. Malalas (KR) Malalas was a tax collector for the Empire of Videssos. Trusting no one, he imposed on a cholera-devastated village the usual quota, ignoring the villagers' protestations that the outbreak had left them short handed and unable to bring in the required harvest. He insisted that the villagers were lying and concealing the missing personnel in the trees. He threatened reprisals for unpaid levies and took as a compliment Krispos' assertion that he was a worse thief than bandits from Kubrat. Seeing that farming was no use if its fruits would only be stolen by either bandits or the government, Krispos left the village and made his way to Videssos the cityIbid., p. 61-65. Malomir of Kubrat (KR) Malomir succeeded his father Omurtag as Khagan of Kubrat while Anthimos III was Avtokrator of Videssos.Ibid., p. 137. He was the last Khagan of Kubrat, deposed when the country was overrun by the forces of Harvas Black-Robe. Manganes (KR) Manganes was the leader of the detachment of soldiers summoned to protect Krispos' village from a Kubrati raid. Their presence was thankfully unnecessary, as the farmers had already beaten back the bandits.Ibid., p. 48-51. Meletios (Krispos Rising) Meletios was a groom in Iakovitzes' stables. He and Barses engaged in fisticuffs with newcomer Krispos, but soon learned to coexist. Krispos' holding his own against the two won him the acceptance of the others. Meletios was one of the handful of grooms who said yes to Iakovitzes' bedroom propositions, and at first regarded Krispos with suspicion as a rival in that way. Mokios (KR) Mokios was a healer-priest of Phos, who attempted to stem the cholera outbreak in Krispos' home village. Though he saved Yphantes and several others, he was unable to save several victims, including himself.Ibid., p. 55-60. Omurtag of Kubrat (KR) Omurtag was a Khagan of Kubrat, whose reign coincided with those of Videssian Avtokrators Rhaptes and Anthimos III. On one occasion, Omurtag presided over the ransom of numerous Videssian peasants, who had been held captive in Kubrat, back to their homeland. A young boy named Krispos was chosen to stand next to Omurtag and the Videssian envoys Iakovitzes and Pyrrhos as a symbol of the transaction. Omurtag gave Krispos a gold piece which Krispos treasured as a keepsake ever after.Ibid., p. 21-24. After Omurtag's death, his son Malomir became Khagan.Ibid., p. 137. Roukhas (KR) Roukhas was a Videssian farmer, taken as captive to Kubrat, who considered himself headman of the abductees' village. He immediately took a dislike to new arrival Phostis as a potential rival, and Phostis' son Krispos put a rotten egg under Roukhas' pillow. Roukhas and his family had to sleep outdoors for two days until the air inside was livable again. He never deduced the culprit's identity. Ultimately, Roukhas and Phostis learned to coexist.Ibid., p. 13-17. Sabellia (KR) Sabellia was Phostis' first love. He told his son Krispos of his breakup with her, to soothe the pain of Krispos' breakup with Zoranne.Ibid., p. 39. Sabellios (KR) Sabellios'''Also spelled Sebellios. See Inconsistencies in Turtledove's Work#Inconsistencies in Videssos. was a healer-priest who treated Iakovitzes' injuries from a traffic accident in Opsikion. He was unable to mend the nobleman's broken leg, which required a healing art little known outside of Videssos the city.Ibid., p. 123-124. Sisinnios (KR) '''Sisinnios was the governor of a Videssian province which included Opsikion. He presided over the meeting between Iakovitzes and his Khatrisher opposite number Lexo where an international boundary dispute was settled. Stankos (KR) Stankos was a young Videssian peasant abducted to Kubrati captivity along with Krispos' Family. He remained their neighbor after their ransom and repatriation, and summoned Manganes' soldiers to defend the village from a subsequent Kubrati raid, although their presence proved to be thankfully unnecessary. During the cholera outbreak, he traveled to Imbros and brought back the healer-priest Mokios, who was sadly unable to stem the epidemic.KR, chapters II and III. Stormbreeze (KR) Stormbreeze was one of the prize horses of Iakovitzes' stables. Iakovitzes valued the care Krispos provided to the horse.TToK, p. 84-85. Stylianos (KR) Stylianos was a wrestler defeated by Beshev the Kubrati, who fatally broke Stylianos' neck.Ibid., p. 156. Krispos, who finally defeated Beshev in the ring after discovering his unfair supernatural advantage, dedicated his win to the late Stylianos.Ibid., p. 160. Tzykalas (KR) Tzykalas was a cobbler whom Krispos' Family met in the Kubrati camp to which they were taken as captives.Ibid., p. 10. Krispos loved the cobbler's daughter Zoranne, but found the man appalling as a possible father-in-law, and so lost Zoranne to Yphantes.Ibid., p. 36-37. Tzykalas' son of the same name died during the cholera outbreak that ravaged their village.Ibid., p. 63. Tzykalas Jr. (KR) Tzykalas, the son of Tzykalas the cobbler, was struck down by the same cholera plague that struck down a part of his village's population, including members of Krispos' Family.Ibid., p. 63. Varades (KR) Varades'''was a Videssian soldier who had fought in Petronas' army during a war against Makuran. After retiring from the army, he taught Krispos and some other boys to read and write. He died in the cholera epidemic that ravaged their village.KR, chapters II and III. Vledas (KR) '''Vledas was a Videssian nobleman who ruled an estate near Opsikion. Following his death, his wife Tanilis managed the estate of her own. Their son Mavros had little if any memory of his father. Yphantes (KR) Yphantes was a farmer who married Zoranne, daughter of Tzykalas the cobbler. His first wife had died in childbirth a few years before.TToK, p. 37. Yphantes and Krispos, who was no longer bitter about losing Zoranne, fought side by side against Kubrati bandits who were raiding their village.Ibid., p. 44. His life was saved by Mokios during the cholera epidemic.Ibid., p. 55. Zabdas (KR) Zabdas was a tax collector for the Empire of Videssos. Krispos' home village knew him as a reasonable man, open to listening to extenuating circumstances. Sadly, he was removed from office for unknown reasons, and replaced by the heartless, paranoid Malalas.Ibid., p. 61-63. Zoranne (KR) Zoranne was the daughter of Tzykalas the cobbler. She was Krispos' first sexual experience. He considered proposing to her, but hesitated due to his dislike of his potential father-in-law. Because of this indecision, Krispos lost Zoranne to Yphantes.KR, chapter II. References * *V